Deck of playing cards

ABSTRACT

The present invention concerns a deck of playing cards ( 1 ), whereon one or two signs distinctive of each card are represented, and is characterized in that each card provides one or two hollowed areas ( 41, 42 ) to thereupon facilitate placement of the fingertips when fanning out said cards as a playing hand, with said zone or zones positioned in an identical fashion on each card of the

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns a set of playingcards, the holding of which by a player is facilitated. STATEMENT OF THEPRIOR ART

Playing cards are usually made of thin, rectangular card stock, bearingon one side one or several distinctive marks, such as one of severalfaces, icons, and/or colored numbers, and with which various games areplayed.

At the beginning of a card game, each player receives from a set ofcards (pack of cards) a hand typically made up of 5 to 20 cards,depending on the rules of the game. In order to facilitate the sequenceof the game, he generally classifies the cards received by color, thenin order of increasing value, and arranges them in a fan in his hand insuch a way as to make apparent, for each of the cards, the icon thatidentifies it best, generally the one positioned in the upper leftcorner of the card. In the course of play, he will successively searchfor the cards in this fan with the other hand, in the order the rulesand skill in the game require. FIG. 1 illustrates a set of playing cards1, held by a player to form a fan 10. For example, these cards aretraditional playing cards, Tarot cards, or any type of other playingcards.

Making up the fan and keeping it in order may turn out to be hard forchildren, elderly people, or anyone with reduced dexterity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has the aim of facilitating composing and keepingthis in a fan in order.

To do this, the invention has as its objective a set of playing cards,upon which are depicted one or several marks distinctive of each card,characterized by the fact that each card exhibits one of several incisedareas intended for locally pinching the card between the thumb and theindex finger of an adult player to facilitate holding in a fan the saidcards, the dimensions of said incised area or areas being adapted topinching the card between the thumb and index finger of an adult player,and thereby the said incised area or areas being positioned in anidentical manner on each of the cards in the set.

According to one embodiment, the cards being essentially rectangular inshape, the incised area or areas are two in number, positionedsymmetrically with respect to the card's center of symmetry.

According to one embodiment, the said incised area or areas are formedof holes or bosses.

According to one embodiment, the said holes or bosses are of anessentially circular shape.

According to one embodiment, an incised area is positioned in a lowerleft region of the card.

According to one embodiment, each card exhibits two incised areaspositioned in the lower left and upper right regions of the card.

According to one embodiment, the cards are of an essentially rectangularshape, cut out in their lower right portion.

According to one embodiment, the said incised area or areas are formedof notches.

According to one embodiment, the cards are of an essentially rectangularshape, and a notch is executed at the level of the lower side of thecard, essentially centered between the two (lateral) sides.

According to one embodiment, the cards are cut out in their upper rightportion.

According to one embodiment, the cards exhibit a main body ofessentially circular shape with a protuberance on which appears a markdistinctive of the card, each card exhibiting the said incised area.

According to one embodiment, the said incised area is formed of hole ora boss, essentially positioned at the center of the card.

According to one embodiment, the said incised area is formed of a notch,positioned essentially in a manner diametrically opposed to theprotuberance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These objects, both characteristic and advantageous, as well as othersof the present invention, are stated in detail in the followingdescription of particular embodiments, in a non-restrictive manner inrelation to the attached figures, among which are:

FIG. 1, an example of a set of cards held in a fan (described already);

FIGS. 2 to 9 of the first examples of playing cards according to theinvention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B, a first example of the holding device for cardsaccording to the invention;

FIGS. 11A to 11C, a second example of a holding device for cardsaccording to the invention;

FIGS. 12A to 12D, a third example of a holding device for cardsaccording to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of clarity, identical elements have been designated by thesame reference numbers on the different figures.

The invention concerns a set of cards (pack of cards) in which each cardexhibits one or several incised areas intended for locally pinching thecard in order to facilitate holding the cards in a fan, the said incisedarea or areas being positioned in an identical manner on each of thecards.

FIGS. 2 to 9 represent examples of cards according to the invention.

FIG. 2A illustrates a playing-card example 1 according to the invention,with an essentially rectangular shape, exhibiting two small lower andupper sides, 11A and 11B respectively, and two long lateral sides leftand right, 11C and 11D respectively. In this example, each card exhibitsan incised area formed by a hole 20 with an essentially circular orpolygonal shape, whose size is adapted to pinching the card between thethumb and index finger of an adult player. Typically, the diameter ofthe hole is on the order of 12 to 20 mm. In this example, the hole islocated in the lower part of the card, essentially centered between thetwo lateral sides, typically at a distance from the lower edge of 6 to15 mm, approximately. According to the invention, the hole is set at thesame place on all the cards. Thus, if the all the cards dealt in thesame game are gathered together, typically in the form of a hand of 4 to20 cards, the aligned holes of the various cards will form a space inwhich the player's thumb and index finger can meet by pinching, in orderto form the fixed axis of the fan that the player wants to form. In thisexample, the hole is positioned equidistant from the lateral edges.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a playing card essentially identicalto that of FIG. 2A, but in which the incised area forms a boss 21. Forexample, the boss comprises a portion of a sphere, with diameter between12 and 20 mm and 2 to 3 mm in height at its center, achieved, forinstance, by punching the card at the desired location. When the playerhas in his hand a hand of cards, the superposition of the bosses pinchedbetween the thumb and index finger constitute an axis for the desiredfan. The boss, achieved by punching the card, in particular allows thecard to be kept intact, without hiding any of the distinctive marks thatcharacterize it.

FIG. 3 represents a card 1 of the same type as that of FIG. 1, but onwhich the incised area is formed not by a hole but by a notch 30, madein this example at the lower edge 11A of the card. In the same way aspreviously, the dimensions of the notch allow for pinching the cardstogether in the player's hand between the thumb and the index finger,facilitating the holding of a hand in a fan.

FIG. 4 illustrates a card 1 of type identical to that of FIG. 2A, but onwhich two incised areas 41, 42 are provided, laid out in essentiallysymmetrical manner relative to the center of the card. In this example,the incised areas are holes, essentially identical to that formed in thecard according to the example of FIG. 2A. According to one variant,notches could likewise be formed at the lower and upper edges of thecard. The presence of two symmetrical incised areas facilitates puttingthe cards to face in the same direction at the very start, since all thecards are perfectly symmetrical and can therefore be grasped by theplayer in any direction.

In order to have a playing card be symmetrical, it is also possible toprovide an incised area positioned at the center of the card, forinstance in the shape of a hole such as is illustrated in FIG. 2A or inthe shape of a boss as is illustrated in FIG. 2B. However, thepositioning of the incised area or areas in proximity to the upper andlower edges allows for a better spacing of the cards when they are heldby the player, due to the fact that rotation of the cards will not behampered by the player's hand and thus permit the formation of a fanwith a larger number of cards.

The card illustrated in the example of FIG. 5 is essentially identicalto that illustrated in FIG. 4, but in this example, the holes 51, 52 arepositioned respectively in the lower left and upper right corners of thecard. This allows manipulation of the cards to be facilitated, and thusa fan can be formed with a larger number of cards.

FIGS. 6 to 8 represent three examples of cards according to theinvention, in which the cards are cut out, for instance in the lowerright portion. In the example of FIG. 7, only the lower right corner iscut out. In the examples of FIGS. 6 and 8, in addition to the lowerright corner, a lower strip is cut from the card, thus forming“half-cards”. These configurations allow the size of the card to bereduced, and thus render their manipulation more facile, in particularfor children, while still keeping the presence of the card's distinctivemarks. In these examples, the incised area is positioned in the lowerleft portion.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a card according to the invention, witha shape essentially different from that represented in the precedingfigures. This card exhibits a main body 90 of essentially circularshape, with a protuberance 91 on which appears a mark distinctive of thecard. The incised area 92 is positioned at the center of the card. Itinvolves, for instance, a hole with an essentially circular shape, likethat illustrated in FIG. 9. This embodiment has the advantage for theplayer of being perfectly symmetrical and offers a card of reduced sizewhich is practical for children in particular.

It may be noted that other shapes of incised areas are possible in orderto attain the objective of the invention. For instance, the incised areamay be composed of a boss such as is illustrated on FIG. 2B. The bossmay be positioned in particular at all the positions described by theexamples illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 5.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate an example of a device 100 (front viewreference is 100A, side view reference is 100B), to facilitate holding aset of cards 1 according to the invention. The device is shown in thisexample with a card of the type represented in FIG. 1, but it is alsoadapted to any other type of card according to the invention. The device100 comprises a disk 101 made of a flexible transparent material, forinstance plastic, provided with a boss 102 with a diameter slightly lessthan that of the hole 20 provided in the card 1, and essentiallycentered on the disk. The disk allows the pressure of the thumb to bedistributed over a greater surface area of the card, when the cards arepinched between the thumb and index finger, as is illustrated in FIG.10B. In addition, the transparent disk allows the card to be protectedfrom possible soiling by the thumb, while still allowing the player tosee the set of distinctive marks on the card.

FIGS. 11A to 11C represent a variant of the card as illustrated in FIG.9, as well as a holding device adapted to this example of card accordingto the invention. According to this example, the hole or boss 92 (FIG.9) is replaced by a notch 93 (FIG. 11A), essentially diametricallyopposed to the protuberance 91. For instance, the notch is of a narrowerwidth than the normal size of a player's thumb, its width advantageouslybeing between 5 and 20 mm, for a length, for instance, between 15 and 30mm. FIG. 11B illustrates an example of a card-holding device 110 adaptedto this type of example. As in the preceding example, the holding deviceincludes a disk 111, made, for instance, of a plastic material, eithertransparent or not. The disk is provided at its center with a pin 112which serves as an axis for the fan desired. FIG. 11C represents a fan10 shaped from the cards of FIG. 11A and held by the device 110. Whenthe cards are held in a fan, the set of notches 93 forms a space at thecenter in which the pin 112 of the card-holding device will be engages.Each protuberance 91 of the card appears with the distinctive markcharacteristic of each card, here the numerals 1 to 18. The player canthen very easily choose the card that he should draw from the hand andpull it from the holding device, while still keeping the fan in shapewhich is made up of the other cards. Although described to illustrateholding cards of the type in FIG. 11A, the device 110 is also used tohold cards according to the invention, which have a different shape andare provided with a notch.

A large number of devices for facilitating the holding of cardsaccording to the invention may be conceived of, and FIGS. 12A to 12Dshow another example of this.

According to the example, the device 120 for holding the fan consists ofa flexible card 121 provided with two holes through which a crosspiece122 passes. On the crosspiece is mounted a disk 123, made of transparentplastic, for instance. The crosspiece allows the flexible card to bebent in a arc, as is illustrated in FIG. 12B. The hand of playing cards1 can then be pinched between the transparent disk 123 and the flexiblecard, as is illustrated in FIG. 12C. The disk being chosenadvantageously in a transparent material, it can be large enough, somecentimeters in diameter, for instance, that the legibility of theplaying card is not hampered (FIG. 12D). Since the playing card is heldbetween this disk and the flexible card 121, the notch may be any sizewhatever, as long as it remains greater than the width of thecrosspiece, in order to be able to slide over it. As before, the diskallows thumb pressure to be distributed better over a greater surfacearea of the card, and thus improves the player's comfort in holding thefan.

Although described by some number of examples of detailed embodiments,the invention includes different variants, modifications, andimprovements which will appear obvious to the expert, it beingunderstood that these different variants, modifications, andimprovements are part of the spirit and the scope of the invention.

In particular, the invention applies to playing cards executed in alltypes of material, for instance, cardstock or plasticized cards.

By this fact, the description is only given by way of example and shouldnot be interpreted in a restrictive manner. The invention is onlylimited by the definition which is given for it in the claims whichfollow, and their equivalents.

1. A set of playing cards (1), on which are represented one or severalmarks distinctive of each card, characterized by the fact that each cardexhibits one or several incised areas (20, 21, 30, 41, 42, 51, 52, 92,93) intended for locally pinching the card between the thumb and indexfinger of an adult player in order to facilitate holding the said cardsin a fan, the dimensions of the said incised area or areas being adaptedto pinching the card between the thumb and index finger of an adultplayer, and by the said incised area or areas being positioned in anidentical manner on each of the cards of the set.
 2. A set of playingcards according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that, the cardsbeing of essentially rectangular shape, the incised areas are two innumber, positioned symmetrically relative to the card's center ofsymmetry.
 3. A set of playing cards according to one of the precedingclaims, characterized by the fact that the incised area or areas areformed of holes or of bosses.
 4. A set of playing cards according toclaim 3, characterized by the fact that the said holes or bosses are ofan essentially circular shape.
 5. A set of playing cards according toone of claims 3 or 4, characterized by the fact that an incised area ispositioned in a lower left region of the card.
 6. A set of playing cardsaccording to claim 5, characterized by the fact that, each cardexhibiting two incised areas, the said areas are positioned in the lowerleft and upper right regions of the card.
 7. A set of playing cardsaccording to one of claims 5 or 6, characterized by the fact that thecards are cards with an essentially rectangular shape, cut out at theirlower right portion.
 8. A set of playing cards according to one ofclaims 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the said incised area orareas are formed of notches.
 9. A set of playing cards according toclaim 8, characterized by the fact that, the cards being of essentiallyrectangular shape, a notch is executed in the region of the lower side(11A) of the card, essentially centered between the two lateral sides(11C, 11D).
 10. A set of playing cards according to claim 9,characterized by the fact that the cards are cut out at their upperright portion.
 11. A set of playing cards according to claim 1,characterized by the fact that the cards exhibit a main body (90) ofessentially circular shape, with a protuberance (91) on which appears amark distinctive of the card, each card exhibiting the said incisedarea.
 12. A set of playing cards according to claim 11, characterized bythe fact that the incised area is formed of a hole or a boss (92),positioned essentially in the center of the card.
 13. A set of playingcards according to claim 11, characterized by the fact that the saidincised area is formed of a notch (93), essentially in a positiondiametrically opposed to the protuberance.